The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers. The show premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007. The eighth season premiered on September 22, 2014. The show is primarily centered on five characters living in Pasadena, California: Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper, both physicists at Caltech, who share an apartment; Penny, a waitress and aspiring actress who later becomes a pharmaceutical representative, and who lives across the hall; and Leonard and Sheldon's similarly geeky and socially awkward friends and co-workers, aerospace engineer Howard Wolowitz andastrophysicist Raj Koothrappali. Geekiness and intellect of the four guys is contrasted for comic effect with Penny's social skills and common sense. Over time, supporting characters have been promoted to starring roles: Bernadette Rostenkowski, Howard's girlfriend (later his wife), a microbiologist and former part-time waitress alongside Penny; neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler, who joins the group after being matched to Sheldon on a dating website (and later becomes Sheldon's girlfriend); and Stuart Bloom, the cash-strapped owner of the comic book store the characters often visit, who, in season 8, moves in with Howard's mother. Production The show's initial pilot, developed for the 2006–07 television season, was substantially different from its current form. The only characters from the initial pilot that were kept for the reshot pilot for the series were Leonard and Sheldon (portrayed by Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons, respectively, and named after Sheldon Leonard). Althea (Vernee Watson), a character featured in the first episode, was also featured in the initial pilot and brought to the reshot pilot. The cast was rounded off by two female leads: Canadian actress Amanda Walsh as Katie, "a street-hardened, tough-as-nails woman with a vulnerable interior" whom the boys meet after she breaks up with her boyfriend and invite to live in their apartment (Katie was replaced by Penny, portrayed by Kaley Cuoco, in the second pilot); and Iris Bahr as Gilda, a scientist colleague and friend of the boys who was threatened by Katie's presence. The initial pilot used Thomas Dolby's hit "She Blinded Me with Science" as theme music. The test audiences reacted negatively to Katie, but they liked Sheldon and Leonard. The series was not picked up, but the creators were given an opportunity to retool the show and produce a second pilot. They brought in the remaining cast and retooled the show to its final format. The original unaired pilot has never been officially released, but it has circulated on the Internet. On the evolution of the show, Chuck Lorre said, "We did the 'Big Bang Pilot' about two and a half years ago, and it sucked... but there were two remarkable things that worked perfectly, and that was Johnny and Jim. We rewrote the thing entirely, and then we were blessed with Kaley and Simon and Kunal." As to whether the world will ever see that original pilot, maybe on a future DVD release, Lorre said, "Wow, that would be something, we will see. Show your failures..." The first and second pilots of The Big Bang Theory were directed by James Burrows, who did not continue with the show. The reworked second pilot led to a 13-episode order by CBS on May 14, 2007. Prior to its airing on CBS, the pilot episode was distributed oniTunes free of charge. The show premiered on September 24, 2007, and was picked up for a full 22-episode season on October 19, 2007. The show is filmed in front of a live audience,14 and is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions. Production was halted on November 6, 2007, due to the Writers Guild of America strike. Nearly three months later, on February 4, 2008, the series was temporarily replaced by a short-lived sitcom, Welcome to the Captain. The series returned on March 17, 2008 in an earlier time slot16 and ultimately only 17 episodes were produced for the first season.After the strike ended, the show was picked up for a second season airing in the 2008–2009 season, premiering in the same time slot on September 22, 2008. With increasing ratings, the show received a two-year renewal through the 2010–11 season in 2009. In 2011, the show was picked up for three more seasons. In March 2014, the show was renewed again for three more years through the 2016–17 season. This marks the second time the series has gained a three-year renewal. David Saltzberg, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles, checks scripts and provides dialogue, mathematics equations, and diagrams used as props. According to executive producer/co-creator Bill Prady, "We're working on giving Sheldon an actual problem that he's going to be working on throughout the first season so there's actual progress to the boards ... We worked hard to get all the science right." Several of the actors in The Big Bang Theory previously worked together on Roseanne including Johnny Galecki, Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf (who plays Sheldon's mother, Mary Cooper) and Meagen Fay (who plays Bernadette's mother). Additionally, Lorre was a writer on the series for several seasons Theme song The Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies wrote and recorded the show's theme song, which describes the history and formation of the universe and the Earth. Ed Robertson, lead singer and guitarist in the band, was asked by Lorre and Prady to write a theme song for the show after the producers attended one of the band's concerts in Los Angeles. By coincidence, Robertson had recently read Simon Singh's book Big Bang, and at the concert, he improvised a freestyle rap about the origins of the universe. Lorre and Prady phoned Robertson shortly thereafter and asked him to write the theme song. Having been asked to write songs for other films and shows only to have them rejected in favor of other artists' songs, Robertson agreed to write the theme only after learning that Lorre and Prady had not asked anyone else. On October 9, 2007, a full-length (1 minute and 45 seconds) version of the song was released commercially.Although some sources identify the song title as "History of Everything", the cover art for the single identifies the title as Big Bang Theory Theme. A music video was also released via special features on The Complete Fourth Season DVD and Blu-ray set. The theme was included on the band's greatest hits album, Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before, which was released on September 27, 2011. Main cast Main cast These actors are credited in all episodes of the series: * Johnny Galecki as Leonard Hofstadter, PhD – An experimental physicist with an IQ of 173, he received his PhD when he was 24 years old. His mother, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter (Christine Baranski), is a neuroscientist and psychiatrist who provided little, if any, nurturing when Leonard was growing up. Like all of the other major male characters, he is a nerd who loves video games, comic books and Dungeons & Dragons. Leonard is also lactose intolerant. The straight man of the series, he shares an apartment in Pasadena with Sheldon. Leonard is smitten with his neighbor Penny when they first meet. They briefly date at the end of season 1 and the start of season 2 and in season 3, they begin an on-again, off-again romantic relationship. Leonard also briefly dates Leslie and Dr. Stephanie Barnett (Sara Rue) in season 2, and in season 4, he becomes seriously involved with Raj's sister Priya (Aarti Mann), a successful lawyer, but she eventually returns to India and they break up in season 5 when she admits to cheating on him. In season 5, he and Penny get back together, and at the end of season 7, he proposes and she accepts * Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper, M.A., M.S, Ph.D., Sc.D., B.S. – Originally from Galveston, Texas, he was a child prodigy with an eidetic memory who began college at the age of 11 (after completing the fifth grade), started graduate studies at 14, and earned a PhD at 16. A theoretical physicist researching quantum mechanics and string theory, he has two master's degrees, a PhD, and an Sc.D. However, despite his IQ of 187, he finds many routine aspects of social situations and life in general difficult to understand and navigate. His father died when he was 14, and his mother, Mary (Laurie Metcalf) is a devout Christian. He also has a twin sister, Missy (Courtney Henggeler), who later has a baby in season 7. He has a poor grasp of other people's feelings and little or no understanding of nuances, often questioning others if a comment is intended as sarcasm. As a result, he is extremely tactless and acts wildly inappropriately much of the time. He is determined to have his own way, boasts of his superior intelligence and belittles the accomplishments of his friends, making him appear petty and childlike. Sheldon has an extremely ritualized way of living (e.g. sitting in the same spot on the sofa in the apartment or knocking on a door three times, each time saying the name of the person he's addressing) and a compulsion to complete things. He is also wary of germs and dislikes physical contact. Despite all these quirks, in season 4, he begins a relationship with Amy, who eventually becomes his girlfriend during season 5. In season 8, Sheldon tells Amy that he loves her. * Kaley Cuoco as Penny – An aspiring actress from a town outside of Omaha, Nebraska, Penny lives across the hall from Sheldon and Leonard. She attends casting calls and auditions, but is not very successful. To pay the bills, she is a waitress and occasional bartender at The Cheesecake Factory. Penny quits her job in season 7 and at the start of season 8 becomes a pharmaceutical representative at Bernadette's company after having given up hope of becoming a successful actress; she appreciates the financial independence the new job gives her. Penny attended, but did not graduate from a community college (she goes back to school in season 6), but has far more common sense and social awareness than the other main characters. Penny is also very untidy and frequently drinks alcohol. To date, her surname has not been revealed. She dates Leonard at the end of season 1 and the start of season 2, and in season 3, they begin an on-again, off-again romantic relationship. At the end of season 7, she accepts Leonard's proposal of marriage (after having proposed to him earlier in the season while intoxicated). Aside from Leonard, Penny has dated various men over the course of the series, which is at times brought up by Sheldon. She briefly dated Stuart in season 2, and in seasons 3 and 4 dated Zack Johnson (Brian Thomas Smith), a handsome and friendly but dim-witted guy, who she married in Las Vegas (they didn't think weddings in Las Vegas were real). In season 4, Penny, Bernadette and Amy form their own group, where they hang out in each other's apartments or go out together. Penny also has a very close friendship with Sheldon, despite his quirks. Cuoco began being credited as Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting starting with the season 7 episode "The Convention Conundrum", following her marriage to tennis player Ryan Sweeting. * Simon Helberg as Howard Joel Wolowitz,M.Eng. – An aerospace engineer, Howard is Jewish (although not religious) and lived with his mother Debbie (Carol Ann Susi) until her death. His father left both of them when he was 11 and has not heard from him since, with the exception of a letter on his eighteenth birthday, which he refused to open. Unlike Sheldon, Leonard and Raj, Howard lacks a PhD, earning him Sheldon's scorn. He defends this by pointing out that he has a master's degree in engineering from the elite MIT and that the apparatus he designs are launched into space, unlike the purely abstract work of his friends. He himself goes into space at the end of season 5, training as an astronaut and serving as a payload specialist on the International Space Station, although he often annoys his friends by constantly talking about space. He has a marked sense of humor, which Leonard and Raj occasionally appreciate. In the early seasons of the show, Howard fancies himself a ladies' man and devises outrageouspick-up lines (mainly with Penny), which have limited success with women. In season 3 he starts dating Bernadette, and although they later break up off-screen, they get back together and later get engaged in season 4 and get married at the end of season 5. In season 6, Howard finally moves out of his mother's house and into Bernadette's apartment. Howard also has a tendency to waste money on ridiculous things and often argues with Bernadette over money due to his oddly low income as an engineer and her high income, resulting in Bernadette often giving Howard allowances. * Kunal Nayyar as Rajesh Ramayan "Raj" Koothrappali, PhD – From New Delhi, India, he works as a particle astrophysicist at Caltech. His family is very wealthy (Sheldon describes them as "Richie Rich rich"). Over the course of the series he communicates with his parents, Dr. and Mrs. V.M. Koothrappali (Brian George and Alice Amter), via webcam (they later divorce in season 8). He is very shy around women and is unable to talk to them for the first six seasons (except for his mother and his sister), unless he drinks alcohol (or at least thinks he has drunk it) or takes an experimental medication. Unfortunately, the former gives him an outrageous, unpredictable personality, while the latter causes unforeseen side effects. Even so, he often has better luck with women than his overly confident best friend, Howard. Raj also has very feminine tastes and often takes on a stereotypical female role in his close friendship with Howard, but he insists that he is not gay.48 In season 4, his sister Priya stays with him and becomes Leonard's girlfriend (much to Raj's annoyance). In season 6, Raj meets Lucy (Kate Micucci), who also has social anxiety, and they begin a relationship. However, Lucy ends the relationship, as she feels too pressured when he wants her to meet his friends. Afterwards, a heartbroken Raj finally speaks to Penny without having consumed alcohol and overcomes his selective mutism. In season 7, he begins dating Emily Sweeney (Laura Spencer), a dermatologist, and their relationship later becomes exclusive. Raj also has a Yorkshire Terrier called Cinnamon, and the gang often joke about how unusually close he is with his dog. These actors were first credited as guest stars and later promoted to main cast: * Sara Gilbert as Leslie Winkle, PhD (recurring season 1, starring season 2, guest star season 3) – a physicist who works in the same lab as Leonard. In appearance, she is essentially Leonard's female counterpart, wearing black-framed glasses and sweat jackets. She is an enemy of Sheldon's, due to their conflicting scientific theories. Though each considers the other to be intellectually inferior, Leslie is much wittier than Sheldon, regularly calls him "dumbass", and usually bests him in their repartee. Leslie has casual sex with Leonard and later Howard. Gilbert and Galecki played the on-screen couple of Darlene Connor and David Healy in Roseanne. Gilbert was promoted to a main cast member during the second season, but was demoted back to guest star status because producers could not come up with enough material for the character. Gilbert left the series after season 3 to focus her efforts on The Talk, on which she serves as executive producer for CBS. * Melissa Rauch as Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz, PhD (recurring season 3, starring since season 4) – a young woman with a very high-pitched voice who is initially a waitress co-worker of Penny's, paying her way through graduate school, studying microbiology. Bernadette is of Polish origin and was raised in a Catholic household. Her father Mike (Casey Sander) is a toughened retired police officer and she has four other siblings. Bernadette is introduced to Howard by Penny as a result of an agreement between Howard and Leonard that if either ever ended up with a hot girlfriend, he would get the girlfriend to introduce the other to "a hot chick". At first, they do not get along, apparently having nothing in common, until they find out that they both have overbearing mothers. During season 3, they date and then break up off-screen. They get back together and get engaged in season 4 and marry at the end of season 5. After successfully defending her doctoral thesis, she lands a high-paying research position at the end of season 4 (her high income becomes a source of conflict between her and Howard in later seasons). Although generally a sweet and good natured person, Bernadette has a very short temper and can be vindictive and lash out when provoked, often sounding like Howard's mother, and intimidating her colleagues. She is also shown to have a competitive streak. * Mayim Bialik, PhD, as Amy Farrah Fowler, PhD (guest star season 3, starring since mid-season 4) – a woman selected by an online dating site as Sheldon's perfect mate after Raj and Howard secretly set up an account using Sheldon's information, prompting Raj to comment, "We finally have proof that aliens walk among us!" Amy is from Glendale and is a fan of Little House on the Prairie. She and Sheldon initially have many similar traits, though after befriending Penny and Bernadette, Amy eventually becomes more interested in social and romantic interaction and is more socially aware than Sheldon. Once she and Sheldon meet, she becomes, as Sheldon puts it, a girl who is his friend, but not his "girlfriend". Their relationship slowly progresses up to the point where Sheldon considers her his girlfriend and tells her that he loves her. Amy's sexual frustration in her relationship with Sheldon is a recurring topic in the series. Amy also believes she and Penny are best friends ("besties", as she puts it), a sentiment that Penny does not share. Penny eventually becomes a real friend, overlooking Amy's Sheldon-like qualities. Amy's admiration for Penny has at times bordered on physical attraction. Amy has a PhD in neurobiology, and frequently uses monkeys in her research and experiments. Bialik herself has a doctorate in neuroscience. In the season 1 episode "The Bat Jar Conjecture", Raj suggests recruiting "the girl who plays TV's Blossom" (whom Bialik played) for their Physics Bowl team. * Kevin Sussman as Stuart Bloom (recurring seasons 2–5, & 7, starring season 6 & 8) – the mild-mannered, under-confident individual who runs the comic book store that the guys frequent. A brilliant artist, Stuart is a graduate of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design and though he is socially awkward, he possesses slightly better social skills than the rest of the guys. Unlike the others he is not a techno-geek. During Stuart's first appearance, the guys bring Penny along to the store, and he manages to ask her on a date. They go out a few times, until Penny mistakenly calls him "Leonard" while they are making out, leaving him devastated. In season 4, he implies he is in financial trouble and that the comic book store is now also his home. At Howard's bachelor party, Stuart uses his toast to tell Howard how lucky he is and compares it to his own situation of living in the back of his store. In season 6, he is invited to join the guys' group while Howard is in space. At the end of season 7, the comic book store burns down and he gets a new job caring for Howard's mother. The two become close and develop a strange relationship, much to the annoyance of Howard. He also briefly dates Howard's second cousin Jeanie (Kara Luiz), to whom Howard lost his virginity.